Forgive Me, My Brother
by kyra235
Summary: Who would had known that the seemingly harmless intruder managed to injure one of their own, not too mention their own beloved brother? With that small mistake, Chao Gai realised that he should not took Song Jiang for granted again. English is not my native language so I'm very sorry with every mistake that I made.


**A/N: Hey guys. I'm not sure whether people will read my story or not but since it had been playing in my mind ages ago, it will be better if I just posted it here. Please bear in mind that every Water Margin story that I wrote was based on the 2011 television series All Men Are Brothers. I had read the novel but truthfully I liked Song Jiang that had been portrayed by Zhang Hanyu much better. He seemed a little bit more tougher and the series had made me understand much better on why he insisted to have amnesty. I can ramble on and on about Song Jiang and Zhang Hanyu (because he's my favorite actor!) but it will bore you to death, so without further ado, please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the novel or the series because if I do, Song Jiang would not died and everyone would led a happy and carefree life at Liangshan after they killed Gao Qiu, Cai Jing and Tong Guan.**

"Report!" A guard rushed in the hall. Liangshan members who were in their rowdy self settled down somewhat to hear the news.

"Sir, we found an intruder. He tried to sneak in from the back." The guard bowed and reported.

"Intruder?" Chao Gai said astonished. He met with Song Jiang and Wu Yong frowning faces. "How come that be? No one managed to sneak in before."

"We better bring him here. We don't know his intent yet." Song Jiang suggested. Wu Yong nodded his head in agreement. The other Liangshan members who tried to speak over each other quieted down when Chao Gai directed his gaze to them.

"Bring the intruder here." He commanded to the guard. The guard rushed out to carry his order. Chao Gai sat down and turned to his advisor and second-in-command.

"What do you think about this?"

"It's a miracle he can sneak in here. Either he's got a very good luck or he had studied our fortress and guard schedule for some time." Wu Yong gave his opinion.

"Not to mention that he can bypass Zhu Gui's tavern. This is highly suspicious. Brother, we need to take extra precaution with the intruder." Song Jiang chimed in worriedly. He pleaded Chao Gai with his eyes. He knew his brother was stubborn and firm with his decision but he hoped to sway it. He didn't knew why but he felt uneasy with the situation.

Wu Yong watched Song Jiang's face closely. He was a bit puzzled on why his brother insisted they took extreme measure to secure the intruder. But he learned by now to not question his brother on his words and actions. It had been proven several times in the past that his brother had a very good hunches on this matter.

"Yes, Brother Chao Gai. It's better if we secure the intruder first before he entered here." Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Song Jiang nodded subtlety as if to thank him.

"Nonsense. We're many here while he's alone. What the worse could happen?" Chao Gai brushed his brothers concern. Song Jiang sighed inwardly and step back. He learned by now that it's better to follow his elder brother's order when he's acting like this. A minute later, the guard had brought the intruder there.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Chao Gai stood up and walked to the kneeling man.

"I'm sorry sir! I heard that you are very generous. I just want some food. No one wanted to hire me with my condition." That man spoke softly.

"Your condition? What do you mean by that?" Chao Gai frowned.

That man glanced at his right arm sadly. Chao Gai scrutinized his right arm before he gasped.

"What is it?! What is it?!" Li Kui asked to no one in particular.

"He…don't have an arm." Lin Chong spoke aloud for the sake of others. They looked at each other in shocked before their voice rose so that it would be heard by everyone.

"Silence!" Chao Gai ordered and everyone clamped down. He hurriedly untied the man. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "If I knew, I won't treat you like this."

"It's fine."

"Who did this to you?" Chao Gai asked, appalled.

"Bandits." All of them gasped and looked at each other. "They killed my wife, my children. They destroyed my home."

Song Jiang watched the man closely. He had a really bad feeling about this. He frowned when he saw the man wiggled his left arm slowly. Slowly as to not raise suspicion, he stood up and made his way slowly to his brother and the man. He widened his eyes in realization when he saw something glinting from the sleeve of the man's hand.

"Brother!" he shouted desperately. He sprinted forward and pushed Chao Gai out of the way. He turned to face the intruder and inhaled sharply when pain blossomed from his stomach. He touched his stomach lightly and watched befuddled when his hand had been coated with blood. He gritted his teeth in pain when his body made impact with the ground. He coughed once and blood trailed down from his lips. His vision wavering in and out of focus to frantic call of Wu Yong and his other brothers shocked faces. But the last vision he saw before blackness consumed him was the horror stricken face of his elder brother.

Wu Yong who was paying attention towards the man interrogation jerked on his seat when Song Jiang suddenly yelled and ran forward. He watched his brother confusedly for a while before his gaze landed on a knife that suddenly appeared on the man's hand that had been pointed towards Chao Gai. He jumped out of his seat and watched relieved when he saw Song Jiang managed to push Chao Gai out of harm way. He knew something had gone wrong when Song Jiang suddenly collapsed. He watched in disbelieved when blood pooled around his brother inert form. Before he knew it, he had already knelt beside his brother and raised his head from the ground.

Chao Gai snapped his head to Song Jiang when he heard his brother cried his name. He felt rather than saw his brother pushed him to the side before he collided with a chair. He shook his head to stop the dizziness when his head made contact with the chair. He turned around to berate his brother when the sight that greeted him made his blood ran cold.

Song Jiang was lying there, with a knife that sticking out of his stomach. Wu Yong had already cradled Song Jiang's head protectively while simultaneously shouting orders to others. Blood from his precious brother had pooled around them that make him sick to his stomach.

"Die Song Jiang! Long live the Emperor!" He snapped his gaze to the triumphant looking man who he felt sympathy just a moment ago. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth in anger. He started to rise to kill that man when someone else beat him to it.

"Damn you!" He watched numbly when Qin Ming slit the man's throat. He uncurled his shaking hands and took a deep breath. Without wasting any more time, he ran forward and fall ungracefully beside Song Jiang and Wu Yong.

"Younger brother?" Chao Gai whispered to Song Jiang. Even when he's unconscious, his face still etched in pain.

"I found a healer!" Wu Yong sighed in relieved when he heard Dai Zong's voice from the outside.

"Here! Hurry!" Hu Sanniang cried beside him. She saw her husband rushed forward to make way for Dai Zong.

"Don't crowd Brother. Make some space for him to breathe." Wu Yong ordered. They obeyed albeit grudgingly. He glanced towards Chao Gai when he didn't heard anything from him at all. Chao Gai looked like someone had punched him in the gut repeatedly. His hands couldn't stopped trembling no matter how hard he tried to repress it.

"The healer's here!" Dai Zong let the healer fell unceremoniously from his back. The healer winced a bit from the rough treatment before he took stock of his surrounding.

"Please spare me!" He stammered when he realized where he was actually.

"We're not to hurt you. Please healer. Please save my brother." Wu Yong pleaded to the terrified healer when he saw Chao Gai was not going to speak. The healer face turned from frightened to confusion to understanding and lastly determination before he nodded.

"Very well." He took Song Jiang wrist to count his heartbeat with a hand while the other one was used to inspect the injury. He frowned before he spoke.

"I need a room. Someone need to carry him carefully so as not to jostle the knife too much." He watched Wu Yong intently. He squeaked in surprised when Song Jiang had been swept away from Wu Yong arm only to be landed in Chao Gai.

"My room. Now." Chao Gai ordered brusquely to the healer. He rose slowly and walked briskly out of the hall. Everyone made way for him and followed him to his room. He entered his room, followed by Wu Yong and the healer. The others stood outside and waited anxiously for the news. After Dai Zong made sure the healer had arrived and the leader and advisor of Liangshan had took charge of the situation, he slunk away and got out of the mountain. He was determined to know the identity and reasons of the would-be murderer of his brother.

"Damn it. I almost kill that man if not for Brother Qin Ming slain him first!" Li Kui crossed his hands in front of his chest and ranted unhappily. He was itching to pick a fight to vent his frustration for not getting the first to take revenge on behalf of his brother.

"Next time don't be too slow." Qin Ming retorted and looked down at Li Kui. Even though he got the honor to kill that man, he still felt unsatisfied. He felt the man had been granted a lighter punishment. He rather wanted the man to be tortured but alas he was too angry at that time and delivered a swift death.

"What did you say!" Li Kui got too his feet and stood toe-to-toe to Qin Ming. Huyan Zhuo and the Ruan brothers tried to stop him but he brushed them aside.

"What? Besides been an idiot, you are deaf too?!" Qin Ming didn't wanted to admit defeat and he pushed Li Kui shoulder roughly. He jerked his arm back from Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen restraining hands.

"Why you…"

"Enough!" Gongsun Sheng raised his voice amidst the shouting brothers. He glared sharply to the two fighters. Lin Chong, the Ruan brothers, Lu Zhishen and Huyan Zhuo smartly released their brothers and stepped back so that they would not draw Gongsun Sheng wrath to them. "Brother Gongming fighting for his life inside and both of you are quarrelling outside? Shame on you! What will Brother say if he heard both of you now?!"

Qin Ming and Li Kui looked down, properly chastised. Gongsun Sheng took a deep breath to quell his rage. He knew it's not their fault. They felt that what happened to Song Jiang was their fault somehow. They just wanted to place the blame on someone else or they would be crazy from holding on to their emotion.

Chao Gai almost stood up from his position beside the kneeling healer when he heard the argument outside when Wu Yong touched his arm lightly to stop him.

"Advisor?" He asked, puzzled. Wu Yong shook his head.

"Don't worry, Brother. Gongsun Sheng is outside. He will surely stop any fight that will occur." True enough, he heard Gongsun Sheng voice faintly from the outside. He couldn't make out what he was saying, but from the tone of his voice, he could predict that he was berating the others. He inhaled deeply and nodded before he resumed his position. He watched the healer prodded the knife intently.

"I need to remove the knife." The healer spoke suddenly. Chao Gai nodded and wrapped Song Jiang's hand with his own. The healer gripped the handle of the knife tightly and yanked it out. Chao Gai squeezed his brother's hand in reassurance when his brother's body jerked on the bed. The healer promptly bound the wound so as to not lose any more blood. The healer sighed tiredly.

"I have done what I can. It's all depend on him now." The healer informed them. "If there's nothing else, I will like to go back to my village."

"Very well. I will escort you out." Wu Yong said. The healer left them with several instructions on what to do. The advisor took note on everything. He knew his elder brother mind was full of worry with their second so he would not burdened him with this.

"How is it?!"

"How's Brother?!"

Wu Yong and the healer had been bombarded with that question as soon as they stepped out of the room. The healer took a step back in shocked while Wu Yong handled them.

"Brother Gongming is fine right now. No need to worry. For now, he can't receive too many visitors. I suggest all of you to go to rest. Tonight, let Brother Chao Gai alone with him. We will take turn guarding Brother tomorrow. We need to make sure that the event today will never be repeated again."

"But…" Shi Xiu gripped Li Kui shoulder to stop him. He gave a small shake of his head to indicate him to stop talking.

"Brother." Zhang Shun stepped forward. "Can we just wait here?"

Wu Yong looked at their determined faces. He stood contemplatively for a minute before he nodded. "Very well. But please don't be too loud. Brother need to rest." He said with a neutral voice but inside he was proud with all of his brothers. Their loyalties really should be applauded. "Now I need to escort the healer out."

"I will come with you." Li Ying got up and followed them. The others settled back comfortably and prepared for a long wait.

"I hope Brother is okay." Wu Song suddenly said.

"Let's hope so." Hua Rong chimed from somewhere.

Chao Gai fussed around his younger brother for a while. He adjusted the blanket and pillow so that his brother would be comfortable. After he ran out of things to do, he sat down beside him and watched his brother slacked face.

"You are acting foolishly, Brother. How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing reckless things like this? Stop endangering yourself. For once, can you please think about your own life instead of others?" He rebuked his younger brother softly. He waited for a few seconds for his brother smart comments but sighed dejectedly when they were non forthcoming.

"I'm sorry." He blurted out suddenly. He gripped his brother's hand and sighed. "If only I listened to you, this will never happened. I was too cocky, too sure with my own ability that sometimes I forget I need to think of others too." He landed his head on the bed beside his brother.

"Get well soon." He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

Song Jiang opened his eyes blearily. He frowned when he saw his surrounding. 'This is Brother's room. What am I doing here?' He mused inwardly. He tried to move his numbed hand when something stopped him. He glanced at his side and furrowed at the sight that greeted him.

"Brother?" He called weakly. He tried to move his body when a sharp pain from his stomach made him inhaled sharply. He flinched when his other hand prodded his injury.

"I remember. Someone tried to assassinate Brother." He widened his eyes in remembrance. He squeezed his hand that was being gripped by Chao Gai in hope that he would awake. Chao Gai muttered inaudibly in his sleep before his eyes fluttered open. He blinked a few times to clear his sight and gaped in shock at his brother's exhausted smile.

"Brother." The weak voice of his brother snapped him out of his stupor. He quickly but carefully raised Song Jiang's body from the bed and hugged him loosely.

"Don't ever do that anymore, you hear me?" He spoke upside him. Song Jiang widened his eyes and hugged him with a hand.

"I'm sorry to worry you, Brother." He spoke breathlessly. He heard several voices outside before the door of the room being opened and closed. He turned his head to the direction of the door and sure enough, Wu Yong emerged from it. The advisor halted from his track and smiled widely at the sight of his conscious brother.

"Brother Gongming!" He exclaimed loudly.

"What?! Brother's awake?!" There were several raised voices from the outside before various hurried footsteps rushed inside. They watched their second who was still locked in an embrace with their leader in astonishment before Song Jiang smiled tiredly at them.

"My brothers." Song Jiang said feebly. That shook them out of their trance and they spoke over one another.

"Brother Gongming!"

"How are you!?"

"Are you alright!?"

Chao Gai glanced behind him and saw several of his brothers inside his room. He saw Zhang Shun, Huyan Zhuo, Qin Ming, Hua Rong and many others. He turned his attention back towards his brother who tried to chuckle before his face contorted in pain. Song Jiang's hand quickly clutched his wound in a grimace.

"You alright, Brother?" Chao Gai said worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Song Jiang spoke firmly but still there was a trace of lingering pain from his voice. Chao Gai put several pillows behind his brother to prop him on the bed.

"Thank you." Song Jiang said tiredly with closed eyes. With several deep breathes, he opened his eyes and turned towards everyone. "How long did I unconscious?"

"A day only, Brother. No need to worry." He turned towards the speaking advisor. He nodded.

"What happened after I pass out?"

"Brother Dai Zong managed to fetch a healer from nearby village. Brother Chao Gai insisted that we brought you to his room." Wu Yong caught Song Jiang's eyes and tilted his head a bit towards the still silent Chao Gai.

"Are you alright, Brother?" Song Jiang softly said. Chao Gai smiled and shook his head fondly.

"I'm not the one who is bedridden from a knife sticking out of his stomach." He sarcastically said. "Worry about yourself first, alright?"

Song Jiang gave a small smile at that. He turned his attention towards his other brothers in the room. They conversed quietly among themselves. When they saw Song Jiang had started gone weary with the conversation, they excused themselves to inform others that Song Jiang had regained consciousness.

"Did we know anything about the intruder?" Song Jiang suddenly said out of nowhere.

"Nothing. But Brother Dai Zong was already on the move to find any information about him."

Song Jiang nodded at Wu Yong. He spaced out for a few seconds. He startled when a hand helped him to lie down again. He watched questioningly at his leader.

"You're tired. Get some rest. We will talk again later." Chao Gai smiled at him. He nodded and closed his eyes before promptly falling asleep. He watched his brother's serene face in sleep, in contrast with the grimace that he wore yesterday.

"Brother, why don't you get some rest too. You're tired." Wu Yong spoke softly from behind him. Chao Gai shook his head.

"Later. I want to stay here for a while." He whispered, still watching his brother's sleeping form. Wu Yong looked at Song Jiang before he too settled himself beside his leader. Chao Gai looked questioningly towards his advisor.

"I will like to stay here too if you don't mind." Chao Gai nodded and continued his vigil. They understood each other intention well without speaking. They were determined to protect the protector for once!

Song Jiang was looking much better the next day. Whenever he awoke from his brief slumber, there was always someone else with him. His constant company were Chao Gai and Wu Yong. He knew they were monitoring him to make sure nothing like these happened again so he let them had their way.

He was talking with Wu Yong and Chao Gai about military affairs of Liangshan when a guard announced that Dai Zong wanted to talk to them. The three of them looked bewildered. The other Liangshan members always came in when they wanted to see them but to have a guard announced their arrival meaning that what they wanted to talk was important.

"Brother Dai Zong?" Chao Gai asked, puzzled.

"What happened?" Wu Yong frowned and looked at him.

"Heavenly King Chao. Brother Gongming. Advisor." Dai Zong greeted them. Without prompting, he told them about what he discovered about the assassin. Along the revelation, Chao Gai face turned white from rage. He clenched his shaking hands tightly. Song Jiang on the other hand looked calm and unruffled although it could be debated with the blank looked he's sporting. Wu Yong looked at both of their leader worriedly. They both were silent after the explanation.

The silence had been broken when Chao Gai suddenly struck the table beside him. "Damn the government! Finding people that have dark history with bandits to assassinate us were just cruel! Prepare the troops! From now on, we will actively wage war with the government and the emperor." He ordered and sat up.

"Brother, no." Chao Gai narrowed his gaze towards his second but Song Jiang leveled his gaze calmly towards him. "We can't wage war with everyone. Not everyone in the government are evil. After all Liangshan motto is too deliver justice in Heaven's behalf. If we start to attack everyone without reason, people will mock us."

"Are we just letting them do what they want to do?!" Chao Gai snapped and gritted his teeth in anger.

"I didn't say that. What I mean is we need to gather the facts first. After we compile the list, then we will attack the evil magistrate."

"Brother Gongming is right." Wu Yong interjected when he saw Chao Gai opened his mouth to retort. "If we act recklessly, we will lost our reputation as the good people. We cannot afford that."

"What is wrong with both of you?!" Chao Gai snapped. Dai Zong took a step back in surprised when their leader raised his voice. "Are you a coward?! If you're afraid then stay here. I will command the army myself." He whirled around and turned to get out. Song Jiang looked in shock at the back of his retreating elder brother.

"Brother, wait!" He scrambled to get up in order to chase his brother. He managed to take a few steps before the pain became unbearable and he crumpled to the ground in pain.

"Brother Gongming!" Wu Yong and Dai Zong rushed forward to their brother fallen form. Chao Gai turned rapidly to face them when he heard their panicked voices. He widened his eyes in shock at the situation.

"Younger brother!" He yelled and knelt beside his brother. Song Jiang hissed in pain when Chao Gai turned him around to face him rather than the ground. "Are you alright?!" He asked frantically while his eyes roamed his brother's body to make sure that there was no new injury.

"I'm fine. Sorry." He waved his brother's concern. "But Brother, please. Don't act too hasty." He watched Chao Gai face intently. He waited in bated breath and exhaled in relieved when his leader hostile posture receded.

"Very well. We will talk again later. For now, you need to rest." The other two spectators smiled at each other when the disaster had been prevented. Dai Zong got out silently after he bid all of them farewell. He knew that he could stop worrying for now because the three high ranking leaders of Liangshan had each others back. As long as the three of them together Liangshan could overcame everything, that he was sure of.


End file.
